Win it in a minute! News about the OHCE program

1. News you can use

I just finished the OHCE Spring education events in each district. It was great fun! I enjoy the OHCE energy. The program I taught is called "Win it in a minute." It's all about home energy management.

2. Question of the week: What's new for you based on "Win it in a minute"?

• First, there is a 50 minute slideshow that I will be presenting via CENTRA to introduce you to the materials. I will do this soon! Before the end of April.
• Second, there are 3 leader lessons that I made from the "Win it in a minute" program. It took me all this time to figure out that OHCE wants brief, fun programs. Not 45 minutes of scholarship!
1. Win it in a minute: Heating
2. Win it in a minute: Cooling
3. Win it in a minute: Lighting

3. Where does this information fit on the ISSUE TEAMS?

Energy management fits into Issue Team: Environment.

• Oklahomans will increase energy efficiency

4. Picture of the week
This is a picture of the OHCE leader lesson toolkit "Win it in a minute: Lighting." The materials have been donated by GE, donation facilitated by DHM faculty Paulette Hebert.

I have FOUR toolkits (one for each district). If you want to use the toolkit, PLEASE let me know! I will bring it to the meeting on the 11th.

5. Anything else I can think of to help you in your work

See you on the 11th!

Gina Peek


 

Heat Pumps

1. News you can use

It's that time of the year. The weather is warm, cold, then warm again. People are starting to get ready for spring! This typically includes sprucing up the home. As consumers spruce up, I encourage you to consider improvements that help with home energy management. If one of your clients is in need of a new HVAC system, they may wish to consider using a heat pump.

2. Question of the week: What is a heat pump?

A heat pump is an alternative to furnaces and air conditioners.  From the Department of Energy website:
"During the heating season, heat pumps move heat from the cool outdoors into your warm house; during the cooling season, heat pumps move heat from your cool house into the warm outdoors. Because they move heat rather than generate heat, heat pumps can provide up to 4 times the amount of energy they consume."

Basically, heat pumps heat/cool homes, helping consumers reduce home energy usage.

3. NEW category? Where does this information fit on the ISSUE TEAMS?

Heat pumps fit best within Issue Team: Environment. Outcomes include:  

• Long term: Oklahomans will prevent/decrease the degradation of their environment
• Medium-term: Oklahomans will increase energy efficiency

4. Picture of the week: from the ENERGY STAR website: Where does my money go?

From the graph, it is EASY to see why we should care about heating/cooling. 

Heating/cooling takes up the bulk of the energy costs!

5. Anything else I can think of to help you in your work:

Ag Communications released a story about heat pumps last week.
 
Sonya McDaniel and Robyn Rapp both have had questions about heat pumps recently!
It just so happens that I was listening to Public Radio, and they mentioned that OKState has this incredible resource: http://www.igshpa.okstate.edu/ 
Info for homeowners: http://www.igshpa.okstate.edu/geothermal/residential.htm 
Info re: accredited installers and designers: http://www.igshpa.okstate.edu/about/contact.as 

Hope this helps! I am always open to new topics. Please let me know what you'd like to see.

GP

 

Bed Bugs Part II

All:

Since the bed bugs are so popular ... I'm continuing the post from last week.

1. News you can use!

Congratulations to ...  Ginny McCarthick for answering the question about the hungry bed bug! Ginny will be receiving a healthy homes tool. She gets to choose from a few gadgets that I have one hand. Watch for more fun contests.

Here is her answer:

A hungry bed bug looks like a flat disc... it blows up after it has eaten.  It also gets bright red after it has eaten.

2. Housing question of the week: Why do we have such a bed bug problem now?

Basically... Bed bugs were nearly eliminated in the US by 1940 and are now making a comeback.
There are three hypothesis: (1) Changes in pest control; (2) Increased global travel; (3) Insecticide resistance. 

3. Fun housing pictures: Here are pictures of bed bugs as they move through their lifecycle

See how the nymph is on someone's hand and is red? It is having a blood meal.

Egg

Nymph

Adult

4. Anything else I can think of that might help you in your work

If you have ALREADY taken the "Essentials for Healthy Homes Practitioners" training with me...

You can SELF-STUDY the materials I gave you and take the exam in Stillwater on APRIL 17. The exam qualifies you for the Healthy Homes Specialist credential.

For more info, 

• Please visit http://www.neha.org/credential/HHS/. 
• Or, give me a call or an e-mail!

That's all for this week. I hope that all is well with all of you out in your counties.


GP

Bed bugs!

All,

Due to popular demand ... Bed bugs! This will be the first in a series, since there is so much information to cover. As always, please let me know what you need and I will get the information to you!

1. News you can use

First, bed bugs prevention/elimination are part of healthy housing. How? "Keep it pest free" is one of the seven principles of healthy housing.

2. Housing question of the week: Why do we care about bed bugs, anyway?

Basically...

     * They feed on us (they feed exclusively on humans; bed bugs need a blood meal)
     * They increase quickly; they can build up in large numbers before they are noticed
     * They are hard to eliminate!

3. Fun Housing Picture
These pictures are compliments of Pawnee County. Trinity had a consumer with an overwhelming bed bug problem. Here is a photo that the consumer provided. Yes, it is a bed bug (front and back) and it is hungry.

The first person to explain how we know it's hungry will get a prize (a healthy homes tool of my choice). Thanks for the photos, Trinity! 

4. Anything else I can think of to help you in your work 

I have 15 people signed up for the upcoming "Essentials for Healthy Homes Practitioners" course. Here, you will learn LOTS about bugs and how to help prevent/eliminate them.

If you want to know more about the training, I'd be happy to fill you in. This is for your professional development. There are no strings attached. Basically, I want all of you to be thoroughly training in healthy housing so that we can get some GREAT programming done.

That's it for this week!

GP

 

Asset-based community development

1.       News you can use

First off, thanks to everyone who had a hand in the Extension conference. It was GREAT to see everyone. I am feeling absolutely energized; I hope that you are as well.

 During the conference, Dave Shideler (AgEcon), Sissy Osteen, and I taught a session about asset-based community development (ABCD). I wanted to make the topic of this week's post ABCD while it is fresh in my mind.

2. Question of the week: What is asset-based community development (ABCD)?

Basically, asset-based community development (ABCD) is a strategy that identifies and builds upon a community’s existing assets that can be leveraged to prosper the community. In other words, it's about identifying the resources available in your community and using them to an advantage.

3. Fun housing picture

Instead of a picture, I'll tell you about the ABCD activity that we did during the session. We organized the room to districts (NE, NW, SE, SW) and had each participant write down community assets for each of the following categories: (1) human capital; (2) social capital (3) physical capital (4) environmental capital (5) financial capital.

Each district had a chance to share as we worked through the categories. At the end, the districts had a chance to look for "themes" based on all categories and reflect back to the group.This would be a fun activity to do in the community. It would be interesting to hear what members list as assets.

I hope I am not out on a limb by saying that we had fun while we did this activity.

4. Anything else that I can think of ...

Asset-based community development is all about thinking of your community in a different way. If you were not able to attend the session this week, or would like to know more, please let me know. We can figure out a way to get you the information (Centra?)

That is all for this week... thank you!

GP

January is National Radon Action Month

1. News you can use

January is National Radon Action Month. 

Why do we care? According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), "Exposure to radon in the home is responsible for an estimated 20,000 lung cancer deaths each year."

2. Housing questions of the week:

What is radon?

• Radon is a radioactive, cancer-causing gas.
• Radon is an odorless, tasteless, and invisible
• Radon comes from the natural (radioactive) breakdown of uranium in soil, rock and water and gets into the air

How do I know if my home has high radon levels?

• The ONLY way to know if your home has elevated radon levels is to test
• There are many low-cost, reliable radon testing kits on the market
• Radon is measured in picocuries per liter (pCi/L). Any reading higher than 4 pCi/L is considered high

3. Picture of the week: Radon map of Oklahoma

Again, the only way to know if a home has elevated radon levels is to test.

However, the EPA has produced a radon map that indicates the likelihood of having elevated levels. As you can see, for most of Oklahoma, the probability of elevated radon is low (Zone 3). There are a handful of Zone 2 counties. If you'd like to see a bigger map, please visit http://www.epa.gov/radon/pdfs/zonemapcolor.pdf

4. Anything else I can think of...

If you are interest in learning more about radon, I will do a Centra training. Please let me know if you are interested and I will get it scheduled!

 

Leilana Mckindra with Ag Communication is working on a release for National Radon Action month. Since this is time sensitive, I am going to suggest that she send it directly to the media. I hope that this is OK with everyone! She will send it to all of you at the same time.

Thank you!